


A Thousand Words

by inhystereks



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Bookstore AU, Cora is a Photo Ninja, Derek likes it, Derek really likes books okay, Deus Ex Barista, Everyone ships it tbh, Kira Ships It, M/M, Maybe photography AU, Oblivious Stiles, Shy Derek, Shy Derek Hale, Spot the Isaac, Stiles Stilinski is a Little Shit, Tumblr famous, also kinda sorta ish, and he he really hates authors who end books in terrible ways, book nerds, does this count as a coffee shop au?, kinda sorta ish?, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 04:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11372361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inhystereks/pseuds/inhystereks
Summary: The door to the shop slammed open, causing the glass to shiver angrily and the bell to ring madly. It was a perfect accompaniment to the rumpled countenance of the young man who stood there. His amber eyes locked on Derek, blazing with the fires of hell.“YOU!” he shrieked, when their eyes met.Cora, blackmail senses tingling, immediately took several steps away from her brother, whipped out her phone, and started recording.





	A Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: There is talk of harming books. It's deserved, but still.

_Portable Magic_ was a cozy little bookstore on the east side of Beacon Hills. Nestled in between a boutique and an art studio, directly across the street from one of the best coffee shops in town, it drew a respectable amount of customers. Somehow, despite its prime location and proximity to the police station, Stiles had never been there. He rarely had reason to stray farther than the Beacon Hills Police Department. However, his father had banished him, not just from his office, but from the entire building, until he was done with paperwork so they could go get dinner. Unable to pester his dad and beset by cravings, Stiles looked up the nearest source of caffeine and made his way to _Ambrosia_.The sign for _Portable Magic_ caught his eye as he got out of his car. 

‘BOOKS!’ his mind shouted excitedly. Stiles hadn’t had the chance to get any new reading material in a while. Mostly because he had a stack up to his waist of books that he’d been meaning to get to or get through. But honestly, how could he be expected to control himself when there was an entire store of books _right there_.

When is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?

Stiles eagerly headed across the street and the shop’s bell tinkled merrily as he walked in.

Standing at the counter, Derek and Cora both automatically looked up. Just a normal looking dude, in Cora’s opinion. Disinterested, she glanced at Derek, then back at the product restock sheets she’d been lazily filling out. But it was only a second before her eyes were back on her brother. She’d been trained by the best (read: Peter) and she knew when to spot potential for blackmail and/or teasing. Derek thought the guy that had just walked in was hot. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell, but she interpreted the fixed way he was staring easily enough.

He couldn’t help it, though. The guy was attractive, but it was mostly his expression that had captured Derek’s attention. He looked excited just to be _near_ books. And then Derek noticed his pretty moles and cute nose and frankly obscene mouth. He was looking at the signs that titled the different sections and Derek thought his eyes were a nice shade of brown. The guy’s gaze caught on one of the framed quotes plastered all over the store and he smiled slightly. He ran a hand through his dark hair and _those hands_. Wide palms, long fingers, and Derek bet they would feel so good wrapping around his… He looked down at his book. The guy would eventually come up here and Derek wouldn’t be able to talk to him because he was awkward as hell and then the guy would walk out of the store and probably never come back again because he was too terrified of Derek’s resting murder face. 

Stiles happened to look up just as Derek looked down and caught sight of him. He stopped dead, eyes wide, mouth actually dropping open a little. Because standing in front of him was the most handsome man he’d ever seen. There were actual models that looked less hot than this guy. Those cheekbones could cut glass. And he knew about the concept of designer stubble, of course, but now he was seeing it live and in person, and _goddamn_. He stood there staring for almost a full minute before managing to get control of himself and head towards the books instead of just standing in front of the door like a moron. Just as Derek raised his eyes and started watching him again.

The judgmental Hale eyebrows were in fine form as Cora observed the stolen glances between her brother and the customer. Somehow, despite the way they were staring at each other, their gazes never met. She muffled a scoff, but didn’t manage to suppress her eye roll. Which she was lucky Derek didn’t catch, because if he noticed her watching him watch the guy, he would try to send her off somewhere else in the store or to the back with some bullshit task. She could easily ignore him, but if she didn’t leave, he might. And then she wouldn’t be able to watch as he and the stranger made idiots of themselves. 

Derek tried to relax as the guy finally walked up to the counter, but he only made himself more nervous and tense. Who just nonchalantly walked around with a mouth like that? It was absolutely ridiculous. As he set his books down, the guy’s gaze drifted down to the call bell, and then to the sign at Derek’s elbow that said, _No, you can’t ring the bell if I’m standing right here._ He smirked, and Derek knew immediately that he was exactly the type of person to stand on the grass _because_ there was a sign that said ‘Stay off the grass.’

“Get asked that question a lot?” the guy asked, gesturing to the sign. 

Derek raised an eyebrow. “There’s a certain type,” he replied. The guy outright grinned, and Derek was a bit stunned. His eyes weren’t just brown, Derek noticed. They were _amber_. What the fuck.

“Find everything you need?” Derek asked mechanically, out of habit.

“Yeah, just pleasure reading,” Amber Eyes said.

Derek paused. He looked at the book he was holding, a novel about an FBI agent out to catch a serial killer, and the book at the top of the stack, a treatise on porpoises. “Eclectic,” he said succinctly.

Amber Eyes blushed a little and swiped his tongue along his bottom lip. Derek’s mind stuttered to a halt and he almost missed what the man said next. “I kind of read everything. Lots of topics catch my interest.”

That caught Derek’s attention. “Are you one of those people that stops reading books in the middle because you get bored?” he asked flatly, giving the guy a look.

The other man’s eyebrows went up. “Wow, that was a lot of judgment. Like, a lot. What if I was? Does that mean you would scorn me and my terrible reading habits?” he asked, leaning against the counter.

“Maybe,” Derek smirked, “Does my approval of your reading habits matter?”

Stiles leaned forward a little. Oh, hell yes, he was definitely being flirted with.“Well, if…” He stopped when the other man’s expression suddenly went completely blank. He was staring down at the book he’d picked up to scan. Stiles looked down at the book, and when he looked back up he was shocked by the intensity of the cashier’s stare. The man’s thick brows, which had _not_ kept him from noticing the adorable bunny teeth by the way, now looked downright menacing.

“Are you sure you want to get this book?” Eyebrows asked, voice low and serious.

Stiles stared at him, wondering what had just happened. They’d definitely been flirting a second ago, but shit just got real serious, real fast.

“Um. Yeah,” he replied, “The summary seems interesting.”

The cashier’s thick eyebrows went down and then tried to meet in the middle of his forehead by way of some complicated dance. His scowl almost made Stiles step back.

“You might not like it,” he intoned ominously.

“I think I can make that decision for myself,” Stiles said. He wanted to go back to man’s previous comment about his approval, but the guy was now scanning and bagging the rest of the books with ruthless efficiency.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. Something about that particular book meant he wasn’t flirt-worthy anymore. He mentally went over the summary. It was just about a guy named Leo down on his luck, shaky relationship with his sister, in love with his male best friend, Barry. What was so terrible about that? Unless the clerk was homophobic. But he’d definitely just been flirting with Stiles, hadn’t he? Unless he flirted with everyone to sell more books. But then why hadn’t he tried to convince Stiles to buy something else before ending the flirtation? Stiles was familiar with the burning desperation to get his hands on a particular book. He had to know what that reaction was for.

“34.28,” the cashier said.

Stiles swiped his card and studied the guy’s blank face again. He waited until he was handed his books before tapping the call bell. Mostly because he always had to do the opposite of what signs like that said, but a little because he was irritated by the abrupt turnaround and he wanted to see the guy’s expression.

“Thanks,” he tossed over his shoulder with a cheeky grin as he walked out. His dad had banned him from the station, but he knew Stiles could be quiet if he was occupied with something that truly captured his attention. This book had to be interesting if the guy in the store had such a problem with it. 

Derek watched the guy walk away. If he was the type to stand on grass and ring bells despite signs that explicitly said not to, he was definitely going to read that book first. Derek shook his head knowing nothing but bitter disappointment and sharp regret came with reading that novel.

“What the hell, Derek?” Cora said, appearing at his side. “You were actually flirting well and then you just shut down and went all serial killer again.” She’d been surprised as hell when Derek seemed on his way to getting the guy’s number, but then he’d randomly shut down in the middle of the conversation.

Derek scowled. He hated it when his sisters said that. His resting facial expression might not be friendly, but he didn’t look like a serial killer. “Remember that book that upset me so much I set it on fire?” he asked.

Cora’s eyebrows went up and she glanced at the shop’s door. “Oh,” she said.

Derek’s phone buzzed with an incoming text.

 **Evil Older Sister:** _So did you get the cute guy’s number?_

“You texted Laura?” Derek demanded, turning to Cora. His phone buzzed again.

 **Evil Older Sister:** _The picture looked promising._

“You took a picture?!”

“Well, it looked like you might actually score a date,” Cora said, rolling her eyes, “It was a momentous occasion that needed to be commemorated. And you should have warned that guy about that book.”

“I did,” Derek replied.

Cora rolled her eyes again. Because scowling at him and vaguely saying he might not like it, did not count as a warning. Derek would be lucky if that guy didn’t come back and ream him out for letting him walk unsuspectingly out the door with that book.

-

Derek wasn’t lucky.

(Well. Depending on how you looked at it.)

-

The door to the shop slammed open, causing the glass to shiver angrily and the bell to ring madly. It was a perfect accompaniment to the rumpled countenance of the young man who stood there. His amber eyes locked on Derek, blazing with the fires of hell.

“ _YOU!_ ” he shrieked, when their eyes met.

Cora, blackmail senses tingling, immediately took several steps away from her brother, whipped out her phone, and started recording.

He stormed up to the counter, slammed the book down, and shouted, “ _WHAT THE FUCK?!_ ”

Derek didn’t even have to look down to know what the problem was.

“I warned you,” he said flatly.

“No, you fucking didn’t!” Amber Eyes yelled. Derek wished he would lower his voice. “You just gave me a really intense look and asked if I was sure I wanted it, and then when I said yes, you did something weird with your eyebrows and grunted! That’s not warning me at all!”

Derek huffed. “I said you might not like it.”

“You didn’t tell me why!” the man wailed. “It was a dream?! The car crash? The camping trip? The search for the best peach cobbler ever? It was all a dream?! I’ve spent four days of my life with this book practically glued to my hands! I fucking cried when his cousin died in that fire! I was ecstatic when his dad finally got the ass-beating he deserved! And it never even happened? He never convinced his sister to go to college? He never stopped stealing? He was finally in a healthy and committed relationship with the guy he’d been in love with since he was a kid! Do you know how hard I was rooting for him? Do you know how much I wanted him to succeed? And it was all a dream? Why? _Why?_ ”

The guy had started out pissed, but by the end he was pleading. His bright eyes were wide with desperation for some kind of explanation.

And the thing was, Derek _did_ know. He’d read the book too. He’d been rooting for the main character too. He’d been so goddamn happy at what seemed like the perfect ending after so many struggles and obstacles and misunderstandings and missed chances too. Then he’d read the epilogue, that stupid little fucking epilogue, that just said: _He woke up with a start, confused. He looked at the clock on his nightstand, noticed the date, and realized … It was all a dream._

And he’d had a fucking mental breakdown too.

Without thinking, Derek leapt the counter, something he usually only did when the store was closed and no one but his sisters could see him, and swept the guy into a hug. He did it with no consideration for the consequences because here was someone that was just like him. Someone that got so damn invested in the characters that every happiness and every sorrow was deeply felt and acutely experienced. He realized when the guy stiffened that acting thoughtlessly could have terrible consequences, but then he melted in Derek’s arms, slinging his own arms around Derek’s waist and clinging tightly as he rested his forehead on Derek’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Derek said quietly, “That author deserves to be burned at the stake and I’m so sorry.”

After several moments, Amber Eyes pulled away. He rubbed at his eyes and Derek thought he might actually have been driven to tears by the horrific ending.

“I’m so embarrassed now,” he said, “This is so ridiculous, but it was like I read that dumbass epilogue and my brain just melted.”

“I completely understand,” Derek said, shaking his head. “I actually ripped that page out and set it on fire.”

A small smile curled the corners of the other man’s mouth. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Derek replied firmly. “I was really upset. I just couldn’t believe that after everything…”

“I know,” Stiles agreed emphatically, “He was so miserable for so long.”

“But he never stopped trying.”

“Not once, even when it almost broke him to keep going.”

“And then when he was finally happy.”

“It all just slipped away. A figment of his imagination.”

They gazed at each other with a profound mutual understanding.

Derek glanced away first, then forced himself to look into Stiles’ eyes. “If you want to talk about the better parts of the book… my shift ends in a few minutes.”

Stiles’ eyes widened in surprise and his smile made a reappearance, larger this time. “I would really like that,” he said almost shyly. “Do you want to just go to the cafe?” He pointed out the bookstore window, across the street.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, “I’ll be there.”

They were still pretty close to each other and Stiles stepped back a little before turning around. He gave Derek a little wave and another smile as he walked out. Derek watched him leave, wishing that he was already in that cafe talking to someone that really understood. He looked down at the ground, shaking his head at the dumb smile he couldn’t completely get rid of. 

Derek shook himself a little and turned to walk back around the counter. He refused to look up and see how many people were staring at him after the little display he just put on. Which was why he missed the fact that Cora had recorded the whole thing. 

Cora flipped the camera back to front facing and ended the video with a quiet, “Wonder what’ll happen next,” and a pointed smirk.

-

The bell to the coffee shop chimed as Derek walked in. He only needed to glance around once to see where Amber Eyes was sitting. He started walking over slowly, hesitant even though they’d planned to meet up barely 15 minutes ago, so he knew it was him the other man was waiting for. Derek pulled out the chair opposite Amber Eyes and sat. Before Derek could say anything, the other man spoke.

“So, I realized that I’ve literally had a mental breakdown on your shoulder, but I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Stiles Stilinski.”

Derek blinked, trying to comprehend the fact that he’d hugged a complete stranger and hadn’t even thought to ask his name. “Derek Hale,” he said in return. 

“Nice to meet you, Derek. Sorry about going crazy on you,” Stiles said. He was smiling, but Derek could tell he really was embarrassed. 

“You just got pissed off and teared up a little. I actually cried and then set the last page on fire. I understand where you’re coming from,” Derek said with a shrug.

Stiles relaxed, his smile becoming more natural. “Well, if it wasn’t likely to get you in trouble with your boss, I’d tell you to rip out the last page of all the copies you have in stock. Since you won’t warn people what they’re walking away with.” 

“I did warn you,” Derek insisted. “It’s not my fault you’re the type of person to immediately read something just because someone else doesn’t like it.”

“Excuse you, sir,” Stiles said, feigning indignation, “What gives you the right to make such accusations?”

“You rang the bell even though I was standing right there, despite a sign that explicitly said not to do that. Actually, _because_ of a sign that explicitly said not to do that. Right or wrong?” Derek said, quirking a brow.

Stiles grinned, and it was unapologetically mischievous. Why was Derek utterly charmed by that?

“Anyway, clearly that author is evil,” Stiles said. He launched into a tirade about how black a person’s heart had to be in order to snatch away a happy ending at the very last moment, but digressed and said he knew of worse ways for authors to fuck with people’s heads.

“ _How_ do you know about worse ways for authors to fuck with readers’ heads?” Derek asked, appalled.

“Tumblr,” Stiles said easily. “I once read a post about an author publishing 12 different editions of a book. The only difference would be the last chapter. And then everyone would get in arguments about how the book really ended. Once it got really crazy, the author would go on record and say publishing 1 book with 13 different endings was a social experiment. And everyone would go crazy looking for the 13th ending. It was theoretical, but still. Whoever came up with that is definitely a demon.”

Derek stared. “I can’t… Who… Why? _Why?_.”

Stiles laughed and proved he was plenty sadistic himself as he started coming up with different ways to drive readers crazy. End a book in the middle of a sentence. Have a book with 300 pages that actually ended on a cliffhanger on page 249 and the last 51 pages were blank. Change all the characters’ names in the middle of the book without any explanation. Derek actually laughed at some of his ideas. It was easy talking to Stiles. For some reason he wasn't worried that something he said would be taken the wrong way or that the conversation would be awkward if he didn't force himself to talk. Somehow the back and forth was perfect even though Stiles talked way more than he did. The conversation went back around to the bookstore and Derek ended up explaining that he and his sisters owned it. 

“So, who named the shop?” Stiles asked.

Derek snorted. “I did. Laura wanted to name it Starbooks and Cora wanted to name it Bookstore.”

“I am getting a very clear picture of what your sisters are like,” Stiles said, grinning.

“Pains in my ass?” Derek asked.

“That too,” Stiles agreed with a small laugh. “I don't have any siblings, but my best friend Scott is like my brother.”

Stiles told the story of how he and Scott met. Derek told the story of when his friend Erica met his sister Laura. Stiles said he thought he remembered Erica from high school and recalled a time he'd distracted Harris so he would leave her alone. Derek mentioned how much he had hated Harris and how his favorite teacher had been his basketball coach. Stiles joked about being the best benchwarmer the BHHS lacrosse team had ever seen. Derek made a sly comment about Finstock and Stiles threw his head back and _laughed_. Derek wasn't even aware of the smile on his own face, too in awe of the fact that he’d elicited that reaction from Stiles. 

They were interrupted as Stiles’ laughter calmed to small chuckles. 

“Hate to interrupt,” Cora said, sounding unapologetic as all hell, “But you’re kind of my ride, Derek.”

For a moment, Derek didn’t understand what she was doing there. The bookstore didn’t close until 9:00 on Sundays and it was just her there for the night shift since Sundays were slow. What the hell was she doing abandoning the store like that? Then he actually glanced at the window behind her and realized it was dark outside. 

“It’s already past 9?” he asked, incredulously. He hadn’t been talking with Stiles for hours. There was no way.

“It’s 9:36,” Stiles said, checking his phone. “Wow, time flies.”

Cora rolled her eyes and said, “Give me the keys, so I can wait in the car while you two say goodbye.” She held out her hand, only looking up from her phone for a moment. Derek handed her the keys and then turned to Stiles as Cora walked out. The other man looked at him for a moment before looking away, eyes darting all around the coffee shop.

Derek wanted to say something, but he had no clue what to say. Stiles looked nervous all of a sudden and it made Derek nervous too. His gaze dropped to where Stiles’ leg was jiggling up and down. He looked up and caught Stiles exhaling slowly before inhaling sharply and blurting out in a rush, “I had a lot of fun talking to you. Would you maybe want to go out for dinner some time?”

Derek froze, staring, unable to believe that Stiles was really interested enough to ask him out on a date after talking to him for an extended period of time. He only came back to himself when Stiles’ cheeks flushed red and he bit his lip so hard it looked like he might break skin.

“Yes,” Derek said abruptly. Too eagerly. He tried to pull back, tried to make it casual when he asked, “Exchange numbers?”

Stiles grinned at him and they switched phones. The amber eyed man thought this might be the start of something beautiful.

-

Four months later, Stiles bounced into _Portable Magic_ to pester his boyfriend while he was at work. He walked straight up to the counter and leaned over it to give Derek a peck on the lips. 

“Stiles, I’m working,” Derek said. But Stiles knew how to read him by now and could tell by the slight curl of his mouth that Derek was happy to see him.

“Yeah, well, your shift is over in a half hour anyway, so you’re practically off the clock,” he said.

Derek tried to scowl in order to cover his smile. It didn’t work and he just ended up being unable to stifle his laugh. “That’s not how time works. That’s also not how shifts work.”

“Whatever, I don’t really care about the semantics as long as I get to kiss you,” Stiles said, shrugging unconcernedly. He leaned in and kissed Derek again to cement his point.

“Excuse me, could you help me?” a woman asked. 

Derek didn’t answer verbally, but did turn to give her his full attention. Stiles leaned against the counter, ready to wait until Derek was done with his customer. The moment the first woman was gone though, a teenager came to take her place. Derek gestured for him to wait a moment and stepped towards Stiles. 

“Could you go get us some drinks?” he asked. “You know what I like.”

“Sure, anything to make my lovely boyfriend happy,” Stiles said. Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles ignored it because he could see the other man’s ears turning red, which meant he was blushing under his stubble. Stiles stole another kiss and said, “I l-... I’ll get our drinks.”

He rushed out the door like moving fast enough would distance him from his almost slip-up. He’d been struggling more and more often to keep the words close to his heart instead of tumbling out of his mouth like they wanted to. As Stiles walked across the street to the cafe, he wondered for the millionth time, what if it was too soon? What if Derek didn’t feel the same way and had to let him down gently? Of course he loved Derek. The other man was amazing. He was gorgeous, yes, but he was also smart and dorky and strangely adorable for someone whose muscles had muscles. He pretended his sisters annoyed him to death even though it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he loved them fiercely and he didn’t mind that Stiles never stopped talking and he owned a bookstore and Stiles never failed to get hot under the collar when Derek talked nerdy to him. 

Stiles tended to fall hard and fast. He always had. But even keeping that in mind, his feelings for Derek were on a whole other level. He was desperately trying not to do anything to ruin this relationship, and saying ‘I love you’ too soon was definitely among the top ways to ruin a relationship. He sighed as he walked into the coffee shop, wishing taping his mouth shut was a viable option. 

He didn’t bother looking at the menu. He’d been there so many times waiting for Derek’s shift to end, or hanging out with Derek before his shift started. Instead, he observed the barista. She was new, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Except when he stepped up, the bright smile she’d been wearing faded and her mouth dropped open. Stiles glanced behind him, but there was no one there, so it was definitely him she was staring at in shock.

“Um, hi?” he said.

That seemed to shake her out of it a little. “Oh my god, you’re Stiles,” she breathed.

He blinked at her. “Yes,” he said cautiously, “You know me?”

“Your boyfriend is Derek,” she said.

Stiles frowned and glanced at her name tag. _Kira._ He had a hard time believing that Derek would talk about him to a random stranger since Derek wasn’t the type to say anything at all to random strangers, but he asked anyway. “Derek’s come over here and talked about me?”

“Oh, no,” Kira laughed. “I just know about you guys from the blog.”

“What blog?” Stiles asked blankly.

Kira’s smile faded again. “Oh,” she said. “The blog you apparently don’t know about. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you guys didn’t know. I mean, of course not, since I’ve never met you. Until now. Um.” She glanced at her watch. “I can take my break and show you? If you want to see it.”

“I definitely want to see it,” Stiles said. Apparently, there was a blog dedicated to him and Derek. Of course he wanted to see it. He gestured over to a booth away from the windows. Derek would be able to see him from the bookstore otherwise and wonder what the heck he was doing in a booth with a cute barista when he was supposed to be getting them drinks. “I'm going to sit over there.”

“Okay, let me just tell my manager I'm taking a break and get my laptop,” Kira said. 

Stiles moved over to the booth he’d indicated, not sure what to expect. There was a blog dedicated to him and Derek. With enough pictures that someone he’d never met before _recognized_ him. But who did it belong to?

Kira came over with a laptop bag and slid into the booth next to him. “Good thing I brought my laptop today,” she said as she sat. “I could just pull it up on my phone but my service sucks so it takes forever and it would be annoying to wait, I’m sure.” She pulled out her laptop and pressed the power button. It turned on instantly, apparently just on sleep mode. “I really need to shut this thing down completely. It’s so bad to leave it on all the time,” she muttered to herself. Tumblr was already open in one of her tabs, so she quickly navigated to the blog she was talking about and, once it was up, pushed her computer over to Stiles slightly.

Once he saw it, Stiles guessed Cora was the one behind it. As far as he knew, the only people that had the first picture were Laura and Cora. Laura would have used colors and puns. The plain black and white background with the simple heading of Sterek told Stiles it was Cora.

The first picture was of him and Derek at the bookstore. The counter was between them with a stack of books on it. Derek was holding a book in his hand and smirking while Stiles was looking back at him with amusement and a bit of defiance. Cora must have snapped the picture just before Derek freaked out about the horrid book Stiles was purchasing.

It was captioned “ _Crush at first sight._ ”

The next one was a video of when Stiles stormed into the store upset about the ending of the book. The next was a picture of them at the coffee shop. Stiles had his head thrown back in a laugh and Derek was staring at him with a small smile and a wondering expression. It was captioned “ _First date._ ” It went on from there. A two panel picture of them with alternating expressions of smugness and irritation. The one on the left had Stiles wearing an annoyed expression and gesticulating wildly while Derek looked at him amused fondness. The one on the right was of Derek rolling his eyes so hard it looked like it might hurt while Stiles grinned at him like the little shit he was. The caption was “ _Arguing literature with bae._ ”

There were tons more pictures of Stiles and Derek smiling at each other, gazing wistfully at each other, flirting with each other, presenting gifts to each other. There was one of Derek in nothing but pajama pants, slung low on his hips, clearly still half asleep, leaning down a bit to kiss Stiles. Only Stiles’ torso was showing (and even then it was clear he’d only just rolled out of bed) because he was hanging on to the door frame to keep his balance as he leaned all his weight back so he could kiss Derek back. The caption was “ _When you’re late for class but can’t leave without a goodbye kiss._ ”

There was another video and Stiles suspected which night it was but wasn’t completely sure until he clicked on it.

They’d all gone out and Derek had gotten _smashed_. Stiles had been way less drunk, but still pretty drunk, and they’d gotten into a rambling conversation about how ridiculous each other was. 

The video started with Cora (he was right, it _was_ Cora’s blog) saying, “Oh shit.” Which led Stiles to believe, because he was pretty sure she’d been drunk too, that she’d meant to take a picture and had hit record by accident.

Just in time to catch Derek saying, “Stiles. Stiles, you are just so fucking ridiculous.”

“What the fuck,” Stiles heard himself respond indignantly, “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, yes, you are,” Derek slurred. “Like just… your eyes. Your eyes are like the sun. They’re so bright and pretty. But then you have moles all over like constellations. Like the stars. And you know what else is ridiculous? Your _mouth_ and the way you just walk around like you don’t have the prettiest lips I’ve ever seen. And you’re _mean_. You are actually an asshole, okay. You don’t pull punches. You never do. But when I was sick a couple weeks ago? You made me soup. Actual chicken noodle soup. From scratch. I’ve seen you make people cry, but you checked me for a fever, like, every hour.”

“If that little punk didn’t want to cry, he shouldn’t have hit on you right in front of me,” Stiles said mulishly, too drunk to bother hiding the darkness in his tone.

“ _That_ ,” Derek emphasized, “That right there. You don’t have a problem fucking someone up, but you talked that old lady in the store for an hour yesterday. You called her _babcia_. And have you seen your body? Holy shit. You’re lean in the best fucking way. Like, lithe, right? All long limbs. You should be graceful. But you’re so fucking clumsy. You always have bruises because you’re so clumsy. And you’re so curious, but only about stuff you’re interested in. Anything that doesn’t interest you might as well not exist. And you’re so smart. _How the fuck are you so smart?_ You’re just… Ridiculous. Fucking ridiculous.”

“Fuck you, man,” Stiles shot back. “You wanna talk ridiculous? Let’s talk about your ridiculous eyes that are basically every color of the goddamn rainbow. Let’s talk about your ridiculous eyebrows that constitute basically 63% of your facial expressions. Let’s talk about your ridiculous smile with your ridiculous bunny teeth and ridiculous dimples. Let’s talk about your ridiculous resting murder face that disappears any time you see your little cousins. Let’s talk about your ridiculous body and your ridiculous muscles and how you could probably bench press a truck, but you volunteer at the animal shelter and all those ridiculous muscles are just more surface area for the kittens to crawl all over while you fucking bottle feed them. I’ve actually seen you chop wood like a goddamn lumberjack but you always wipe your feet before coming inside because that’s what your mom taught you and you’re such a mama’s boy it’s _ridiculous_. And you’re talking about how _I’m_ smart? It took only took you two and a half months to learn enough Polish to be conversationally fluent _you fucking ridiculous polyglot_. You…”

He stopped suddenly and turned to capture Derek’s lips in a fierce kiss. After a moment he pulled away and asserted, “ _Ridiculous_.”

“No, _you_ ,” Derek said. And then they were making out again until Stiles slipped his hands under Derek’s shirt.

The video ended with Cora shouting, “No sex in the park!”

Stiles sat back and stared. Kira took over scrolling, talking about which pics she found particularly cute.

“Oh my god,” Stiles said in awe. “He loves me.”

Kira turned away from her computer screen to blink at him. “Well, _duh_.”

“Don’t duh me,” Stiles said, “I had no idea. I mean I knew he liked me a lot, but he actually _loves_ me.”

Kira arched her eyebrows at him. “Stiles,” she said like she couldn’t believe she had to tell him this, “You two are, like, twitterpated.”

That brought Stiles out of his daze. He turned to squint at her. “Wow, you are super adorable and I would love to talk to you more, but I have to go tell my boyfriend I’m in love with him.”

Kira slid out of the booth with a giggle. “Good luck!” she called as Stiles hurried out of the shop.

He ran across the street and slammed into the bookstore, sending the bell into several seconds of discordant jangling. “Derek!”

Cora darted out of the stacks, phone in hand, and Stiles wondered how he had honestly never noticed that before. 

“Stiles?” Derek asked. He was in the middle of ringing up a customer.

Stiles hurried over to Derek, breezing through the divide that separated the back from the rest of the store.

“Stiles, you can’t just…”

He was cut off by Stiles pulling him into a kiss. When they broke apart, Derek was a bit dazed.

“I was so afraid of saying it to you,” Stiles said.

Derek blinked. “Saying what to…”

“And then that adorable barista recognized me even though I had no idea who she was.”

“What adorable barista?” Derek growled.

“So I wanted to know how she knew me and she showed me Cora’s blog about us.”

“Cora’s _what_?” Derek asked, alarmed. He started to twist around, searching for his sister, but Stiles grabbed his attention again.

“And I had no idea. Like I suspected, but now I _know_. And it’s so obvious. I can’t believe I was so worried. That I was so oblivious and I didn’t see it.”

“Stiles, what are you talking about?” Derek demanded to know.

Stiles simply looked at him with an ecstatic smile, practically glowing. “You love me.”

Derek’s eyes widened and he took a startled step back. “I… you… I…” he stammered as his ears turned red.

Stiles’ smile never faltered. “Derek,” he said. “I love you, too.”

Derek paused. Stared. A slow smile began to curve his mouth. “You love me?” he asked breathlessly.

Stiles nodded. “I love you.”

Derek surged forward to kiss him. Stiles laughed into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

Derek pulled away for just a moment to say, “I love you.”

Stiles’ happy smile turned mischievous and he said, “I know.”

Derek rolled his eyes and leaned in again to kiss his boyfriend quiet.

Cora ended her recording and calmly walked around the counter. She nudged the still kissing couple to the side and turned to the highly amused customer that was still waiting.

“I’ll finish these. My brother got a bit preoccupied,” she said.

“Yeah, I can see that,” the guy grinned.

“Brothers,” Cora huffed wearily.

“Always receiving declarations of love at the most inconvenient times,” the guy said, feigning an exasperated head shake, curls bouncing at the motion.

“Such a blatant lack of professionalism,” Cora smirked. She handed the guy his books.

“I’d tell your brother congratulations,” he said, “But I don’t think he’d actually hear me.”

Cora snorted. “I’ll pass the message along,” she said, waving as he walked out.

Looking over at the canoodling couple, Cora rolled her eyes. She pulled out her phone again and snapped a pic. 

Caption: _Deus Ex Barista_

-

Cora kicked at Malia’s ankles. Her cousin slowly looked up from her book, one of the easiest ways to keep her quiet besides food. Peter had been ecstatic to find a way to keep his daughter from acting like a feral little beast that didn’t involve risking obesity.

“C’mon. Stiles said that barista is working a shift right now. We’re gonna go thank her in person for finally getting those idiots to say they’re in love with each other,” Cora said.

Malia rolled her eyes, but stood and followed behind Cora because if nothing else, she could get a snack. The older girl knew better than to try and take the book from her. Malia had learned long ago how to navigate while walking and reading without smacking into anything, and she trusted Cora not to lead her into traffic while she wasn’t paying that much attention. They walked into the shop, catching the tail end of the just-after-lunch rush.

When they got to the counter and Kira brightly greeted them, Malia finally looked up from her book. Before Cora could say anything, she spoke.

“Damn, Stiles said you were cute, but he didn’t say you were _this_ cute,” she said bluntly.

Kira’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. “Oh,” she said shyly. “Thank you? I …” She shifted nervously and pulled her long hair over her shoulder so she could twist her fingers in it. “You’re really pretty,” she said, biting her lip directly after, looking distinctly unsure of whether she should have said that. Malia smirked and placed her book on the counter, abruptly leaning directly into the girl’s space. A surprised squeak escaped Kira’s throat and her cheeks reddened even more, but she didn’t back up.

Cora smirked and snapped a picture.

_Crush at first sight._

**Author's Note:**

> This story exists because something similar happened to me and I was so upset I had to write about it happening to someone else to calm myself down. Lucky me, I skipped to the end to see what happened, because I might have killed someone if I had actually read the last six chapters of drama only to get to "It was all a dream." I kind of wanted to end this story like that, but I'm not that cruel. Kudos and comments, pretty please. Check out my other stories, pretty pretty please. Much love. -xoxo, inhystereks


End file.
